


Because Letters are Everything

by haurratxoria



Category: GOT7
Genre: Amount of Markson in this era is killing me, Fluff, Fluffier than anything I thought I could ever write, From School To Trainee Life, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Influenced by Markson Got2Day, Letters, Partly Markson First Meeting Fic, Pen Pals, Random tags are fun to create
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-27
Updated: 2016-11-27
Packaged: 2018-09-02 12:56:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8668429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haurratxoria/pseuds/haurratxoria
Summary: Because Mark sucks at English and writing to a pen pal is the only way to save his grade.
Or
Where Mark and Jackson become pen pals and slowly help each other realize their dreams.
(I tried my best in this summary)





	

**Author's Note:**

> Song Lyrics taken from Let Me (lyrics by Mark Tuan)
> 
> Italicized writing means that it is part of a letter.
> 
> I didn't proof read this completely, but I worked really hard on it, so I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Also struggled with a title name ;__;  
> I tried.

Mark was always bad at English.  It wasn’t like he was a bad student; his math grades were golden.  It wasn’t like his vocabulary was limited; he knew most of the words in the dictionary.  It was because he couldn’t seem to express himself and no one seemed to understand him.  And so here he was, with an F on his poetry project.  But seriously, who needed to know how to write poetry?  He rolled his eyes and walked into the English office, plastering a slight smile on his face.

“Excuse me, Ms. Morgan.  You asked to see me?”

“Yes Mark.  I’m sorry to tell you, but you’re failing English.”  Well that much was obvious. 

“Is there anything I can do to pull my grade back up?”  Mark threw in a brilliant smile to try to pull his grade up by half a letter. Apparently, people found him pretty, because he usually got what he wanted. 

“Well, there is something.”  Ms. Morgan picked up a sheet of paper and passed it to Mark. 

The second Mark's eyes glanced over the word pen pal, he internally groaned. Just what he dreamed of.  Yay for human interaction. Nothing would make him want to do this. 

“I know it sounds like a lot of work and dedication, having to write a letter twice a month for the rest of the school year, but your grade would go from a D to a B.”

“I'll do it.”  Mark cringed at how desperate he sounded when the words spilt out of his mouth instantly after hearing the grade.  But since when did extra credit bring your average up by two whole letters?  Ms. Morgan seemed to light up at the idea that he seemed to care.

“Great!  We’ll set you up with someone and I’ll give you the first letter when I get it.”

 

*******

 

Earlier in the morning, Ms. Morgan had handed him the envelope.  It took him a while to realize what it was, but now the letter had found it’s place at the bottom of his backpack.  The time ticked by as Mark played video games, studied, cleaned his room and helped his mom around the house.

“Is there anything else you need help with, M āmā ?”

“You’ve been so helpful today!  There’s nothing else you need to do.  Thank you so much!”  His mom smiled brightly at him, and Mark tried to return the smile without showing his frustration at the fact that he had to return to his room.  His room that used to be the place that he wouldn’t want to leave.  His room that was tainted by the letter that seemed to be staring at him accusingly.

Mark had finally made a step forward; he had finally taken the crumpled letter out of his bag.  He seemed to be having a staring contest with the letter, which was stupid considering he was guaranteed to lose.  His eyes started to feel dry and he cracked under the pressure, grabbing the letter out of its envelope after blinking furiously.  His eyes danced over the first words.

 

_ Hello Random Person from Across the World, _

_ What’s up?  I’m Jackson Wang (Wang Ga Yee), born and raised in Hong Kong!  852 Pride, Yes~  I’m on the national fencing team.  I’m really cool, Google Me.  _ __

 

It amazed Mark how quickly this Jackson person began to brag about himself.

 

_ I fence with the sabre (best fencing weapon ever).  My biggest dream is to end up in the 2016 Olympics!   _

 

Mark’s eyebrow twitched.  Did this Jackson Wang not have any filter?  Who tells someone about what their biggest dream is within four lines of their first letter to each other, let alone first time communicating?  Was it normal to be this open?

 

_ And guess who helps me with fencing?  My dad~  He’s competed in the Olympics twice!  Isn’t he amazing?  And my mom was an olympic gymnast!  Aren’t my parents the best? _

 

Mark rolled his eyes.  He was pretty sure this person was supposed to be around his age, but Jackson Wang sounded like an 8 year-old gushing over their favorite celebrity.  What was wrong with this person?  He smiled, clearly only because this person seemed unbelievable, before engrossing himself into the many pages of the letter remaining.

 

*******

 

Mark did not like that chipper Jackson Wang.  He only responded with one paragraph to Jackson’s several pages.  He did not rip open the letter as soon as he got it.  Okay, granted the first thing Mark did when he got home was run to his room to read the letters Ms. Morgan passed on to him.  But that was only because it was his English grade’s life line.  There was no way he enjoyed reading those letters.  He did not smile to himself as he read the cheerful words that seemed to jump off the page with the excitement of their author.  He did not giggle to himself every time Jackson said something weird.  There was no way in hell.

 

*******

 

Okay, Mark did like Jackson now.  Jackson was one of his closest friends, which may sound weird to others as they had never met in person but made perfect sense to Mark.  Jackson always seemed to understand him; he never needed more than a few words from Mark to understand what he was thinking.  And Jackson’s infectious words always made Mark smile.

March 28 was crawling around the corner.  Mark had poured himself into coming up with the perfect gift.  He had written so many lists of ideas, a sea of balled up papers, filled with his frustration.  And so here he was with a red envelope with birthday money, a personalized pen, a pair of matching simple chain necklaces, and a letter.  He was quite proud of the personalized pen.  It was a sleek, black fountain pen with cursive gold lettering stating  _ Jackson Wang _ .  He ran his fingers over the gold lettering of the pen, smiling.  And who didn’t appreciate birthday money?  The necklaces worried him.  Mark hoped that Jackson wouldn’t think the necklaces were too much.  And then there was the letter.  Mark had rewritten the letter many times and after the many hours he had come up with “ _ Jackson, Happy birthday!  Now we have matching necklaces.” _  Yes, that was it.  But it didn’t matter, because shipping time was a pain in the ass and Mark was not going to send Jackson a late birthday gift.  He shoved the gifts in the package and sealed it.

 

*******

 

Mark was considerably more nervous when he opened this letter.  He had hoped Jackson wouldn’t think it was a burden that Mark had given him a gift.  He had kept postponing reading Jackson’s letter and now it was almost midnight.  He lay down on his bed and opened the letter.  All the nervousness he had disappeared instantly as a smile hit his face.

 

_ MARKKKK~~~ _

_ Thank you so much! <3  I’ll always write you with this pen.  Do you know how nice this pen is? Oh my god.  Also, make sure you wear that necklace everyday because then we’ll always be matching!  I love you so much; you’re one of my best friends Did you know some of my friends in Hong Kong forgot to give me a birthday gift?  We haven’t even met in real life and you gave me the best gift ever.  Thank you for the gift and thank you for always reading everything I rant about!  I love you my Mark! _

 

Mark’s eyes slipped from words as Jackson started to report about how he had been.  The paper fell gently from his hands as his eyes fluttered shut, smile still on his face as he slipped into the land of dreams.

 

*******

 

And now Mark was holding the last letter he would get from Jackson.  The school year had came to an end and Mark’s English grade had been rescued.  So this is how it would end.  Mark wasn’t that sad.  Well, it felt like there was a hollow feeling in his chest, but that could have been the signs of an upcoming heart attack.  Ok, maybe he was upset.

His eyes soaked in the handwriting he would miss, the words that would make him smile and laugh.  He absentmindedly ran his finger over the indents the words made in the paper.  There had never been a time before this when Jackson’s words had failed to bring a smile to his face.

And then his eyes crossed the last paragraph of the final letter.

 

_ I love writing to you Mark.  You’re a really precious friend to me.  I really want to stay in touch.  So if you want to, write to me? _

 

Mark giggled at the layers of white out under Jackson’s words.  It was the first time Jackson hadn’t just written down the first thing that came to his mind and had actually shown that he had put a some thought into his words.  He grabbed an envelope, printing Jackson’s address neatly in the corner, before placing Jackson’s letter in the box, he had placed all the others in.

 

*******

 

Mark had never known what he wanted to do with his life.  So it had come as a shock, when some people from a K-Pop music company had tried to scout him.  He didn’t even know about K-Pop, and now he was sitting at his desk with a card from JYP Entertainment, telling him to call them if he was interested.  He had showed it to his parents, who had been excited, beaming about how handsome he must be if they wanted him just after seeing his face.  However, in the end, they had told him it was up to him.  He had just watched some K-Pop music videos and they had intrigued him, but he didn’t feel like it suited him.  He was Mark.  A quiet boy who didn’t like to talk, couldn’t sing, and was average dancer.

It had become instinct for him to grab a paper and pen.  The words that never seemed to come to him easily flowed like a waterfall.

 

_ Ga Yee, _

_ What does it feel like to have a dream?  Do you feel happiness everyday, knowing that you are one step closer to the Olympics?  I’ve never thought of what I want to do with my life. _

_ A K-Pop entertainment named JYP asked me if I wanted to audition to join their company.  I’m not sure if I should do it.  Being in the spotlight isn’t my thing, but when I watched K-pop videos, I can feel my heart beating faster. _

 

Somehow, the idea of confiding in Jackson comforted him more than anything else.

 

*******

 

When Mark got home everyday for the next week, he had always checked his mailbox first.  So on the day when he say Jackson’s handwriting on the outside of the envelope, he had grabbed it and ran through the door, barely kicking off his shoes before racing up the staircase and slamming his bedroom door.  He had been waiting for this letter for days.  He ripped it open without any hesitation.

 

_ Yi-en! _

_ THAT’S AMAZING!  YOU GOT SCOUTED OH MY GOD OH MY GOD!  DO YOU KNOW HOW AMAZING THAT IS?  YOU MUST BE REALLY HANDSOME! _

 

Mark felt his cheeks heat up from embarrassment.

 

_ Do you know how cool that is?  And even if you think it doesn’t suit you, don’t you want to be standing on that stage?  The professional scouts want you in their company!  And not any scouts, JYP!  JYP ENTERTAINMENT!  JYP Entertainment is one of the biggest companies in the industry.  If they think you can do it, you can do it!  If you work hard, you’ll be able to have fun and shine just like the stars on stage.  Work hard, play hard.  And then one day you’ll be just like them. _

 

Mark stared at those words.  The more he read the letter over, he realized that he wanted to be a part of that.  Somehow Jackson had known what he wanted before he did.

 

_ Can I tell you a secret?  My dad put all his hopes of raising a fencing champion on me instead of my older brother.  Ever since I saw people fencing, I’ve wanted to become a fencing champion as well. _

_ There’s another dream I have.  Secretly, I’ve wanted to become a K-pop idol for a while.  But, my dad has always wanted to have at least one son who was a fencing champion. _

 

Mark grabbed a sheet of paper.

 

_ Jacks, _

_ Never give up on things you can’t live a day without. _

 

He set aside the piece of paper to continue writing later before picking up the business card and pulling out his phone, the clicking sound of the buttons filling the room.  He clicked call.

 

*******

 

Mark felt different today.  He felt like his face would split into two, but he couldn’t hold back his smile.  He grabbed his unfinished letter off of his table.

 

_ When I read what you thought, I realized you were right.  I contacted JYP Entertainment and auditioned.  They decided to take me.  I’m going to have to move to Korea and leave my family and friends, but you made me realize I really wanted this.  I’ll send you my new address.   _

_ Thanks. _

 

He shoved the letter into an envelope, before he felt the urge to erase the last word written.  

 

*******

 

It had been a few months in Korea.  Korean still seem to get stuck in his throat, almost to the point where he felt choked.  He didn’t talk to a lot of other trainees especially if they didn’t speak English; he could barely make friends in the U.S. and making friends with a foreign language was just something he couldn’t do.  He spent most of his day trying to come up with raps, which he couldn’t even do in English, dancing, and learning martial arts tricking.  He still wanted to be an idol, but the idea had lost some of its original glamour.  He was separated from his family and friends and the letters between him and Jackson had become far and few.  Even though he preferred being alone, he still felt lonely.

He tried to resist the urge to check if he received mail nowadays.  The more he checked, the more he felt disappointed.  It wasn’t unexpected.  When everyone had started to text with their phones, who would bother to send letters?  It seemed like a joke when he had thought that Jackson would always be there to brighten up his day.

He didn’t know why he still checked if he had mail.  It was a temptation he couldn’t resist, which gave himself a false sense of hope.  But nothing ever changed.  He would ask if he had mail, and the secretary of the office would give him a look of pity and shake her head.

The sound of the office door swinging open was familiar to him, more familiar than he had wanted it to be.  The secretary looked up and he gave her a slight smile, preparing himself for the worst.

“Anything today?”

And then the secretary gave him a smile and handed him an envelope.  “Congratulations.”

Mark quickly grabbed the envelope and turned it around.  The smile on his face more genuine than it had been in weeks when he was greeted by a messy scrawl in English.  As he turned to run out of the office, he blurted out “Kamsahamnida”.

He ran to his dorm.  Of course it would have been faster if he had taken public transport like he usually did, but the adrenaline coursing through his body made his legs fly.  He raced up the stairs even though the kind man in the elevator had held the doors open for him.  He had accidentally ran past fellow trainees when they asked him why he had that stupid grin on his face (He would have to apologize to them later).  And he almost broke the door as he jammed the key in.

The letter.  His hands trembled with excitement as he opened it.

 

_ Markie-pooh~~~ _

 

Mark scrunched up his nose, eyebrows turning upwards.  What kind of nickname was that?

 

_ I’m sorry I haven’t written you recently. _

 

Jackson should be.

 

_ It’s because I’ve been busy.  Doing what?  It’s a secret~  Just read on and you’ll find out. _

 

Yup, Mark was definitely going to pay Jackson back.  Maybe he should just send a letter with ‘k’ written on it.  

 

_ You’re learning how to do martial arts tricks?  I bet you look so cool!  Show me if we meet up some day!  And I really want to hear you rap.  It sucks that you don’t have close friends in JYP :(.  It’s okay though, you don’t have to worry about that anymore.  Soon, you can just hang out with me! _

 

Wait… what?

 

_ That’s right.  I’M JOINING JYP. _

 

Mark fell off his chair.  What was happening?  He took in a couple deep breaths and read the words over and over again.  Oh my god.  He was about to sit up, but then decided against it, just in case anything more surprising appeared in the letter.

 

_ You know how you told me a year ago that I shouldn’t give up on what I can’t live without?  I finally had the guts to ask my parents.   _ _ BàBà  _ _ said that I could try to be an idol as long as I became the best junior fencer in Asia.  I guess you can do what you put your mind to.  You should have seen the look on  _ _ BàBà _ _ ’s face when he realized that I won the Asian Championship for the U17 Sabre.   _

 

Mark felt like his eyes would pop out of his head.  How- just how?  Jackson was amazing.

 

_ He agreed to let me try out.  Well, he wasn’t especially happy about it, but he doesn’t go back on his word.  I passed the audition.  So I’ll be coming to Korea soon. _

_ I guess my fencing career is over now.  I don’t really know how I feel about that.  I really love fencing and I’ll miss my team, but I really want to stand on that stage.  I hope my family isn’t disappointed in me. _

 

Mark rubbed his fingers over the blotches of ink and tears.  He hoped Jackson had someone to hold him when he cried.  Even the sun needed to hide behind clouds once in awhile.

 

_ But I’m happy that I can finally meet you Mark.  And I’m glad that I’ll have someone I love waiting for me.  So I’ll finally see you on July 3rd, 10 p.m. Incheon International Airport! _

 

That was in three days.  Mark was glad he had decided to stay on the ground.

 

_ Make sure to come, ok?  I can’t wait to see you! _

_ J-Flawless _

_ (That’s going to be my stage name!) _

 

Mark could feel his lip splitting from smiling too much.  He was going to see Jackson!  But the smile on his face slowly disappeared as he ran his fingers over the tear stains on the letter.  He got up and walked to his desk, opening his music notebook.

 

_ I see you reflected in today’s sunlight _

_ You are crazily radiant _

_ You plant the sun in my heart _

_ Let’s you and I be together today _

_ Will you be by my side, by my side _

_ Let me hold your hand _

 

He would edit those lyrics later, but those were the first good lyrics he had written in a while.  He was surprised that this had all happened because he had failed his poetry project.  If he could have written this for his English class, maybe he wouldn’t have failed.  Mark was glad that he had failed.

He read the lyrics over again.  Jackson was like the sun that always reassured him.  He hoped that he could be by Jackson and support him if he cried.  He would definitely be there for Jackson.

 

*******

 

The rain hitting the ground around him sounded comforting as Mark nervously ran his hands through his short, black hair.  He kept his eyes trained on the glow of the airport exit.  One of his hands held an umbrella, while the other one fiddled with the necklace that matched Jackson’s.  He ran his fingers over the chain to distract his hands, but it did nothing to distract his mind.  

He was meeting Jackson for the first time.  Would he be as easy to talk to in person?  Oh my god.  Mark blinked furiously in disbelief.  They had never seen pictures of each other.  How were they possibly going to meet?  Mark shook the worries from his head.  He was already at the airport, so he may as well try to find Jackson.  He walked through the automatic doors, closing his umbrella, heart sinking as he glanced around and realized how large the airport was.  He looked at the huge display screen in the airport, and glanced at Jackson’s letter to check the flight number, heart pounding as he realized Jackson’s flight had landed just minutes ago.

He found himself at the luggage pickup station, waiting.  He didn’t know what he thought waiting would do as he watched the tearful reunion of strangers.  Slowly, the luggage pickup station began to empty out until few people remained.

Mark made eye contact with a stranger.  The stranger was sitting on top of his luggage, seemingly looking for someone, backwards snapback keeping his hair away from his bright eyes.

“Yi-en?”  Mark widened his eyes and stared at the stranger’s lips.  And then the stranger’s mouth moved again and the room was filled with the sound of the stranger calling out “Mark?”

“Gaga?”  Jackson jumped off his luggage.

“Markie-pooh!”  A joyous giggle met Mark’s ears as Jackson’s luggage hit the floor.  Jackson ran towards Mark and then jumped, latching on to Mark like a koala bear.  Mark stumbled backwards as he felt Jackson’s arms and legs wrap around him.

“Mark!  Mark!  Mark!”  Mark looked up and was met with the widest smile in the world and sparkling, warm eyes.

“Jacks.”  Jackson planted his feet back on the ground, but didn’t let go of Mark.

“Oh my stress.  I’ve wanted to see you for forever!  You’re even better looking than I thought you would be!  And that necklace looks stunning on you.”  Mark’s cheeks turned red.  An even bigger smile, if that was possible, appeared on his face as he realized that Jackson also had the necklace around his neck.

“Thanks.  That necklace looks good on you, too.  How was your trip?”

“Thank you.  The trip was great.  Oh yeah,  I sat next to this really nice lady who spoke Cantonese.  She had the cutest baby ever.  I tried to talk to the baby and then I started using baby talk and she laughed at me.  I swear that baby looked like an angel, but you look more like one.”  Mark swore that he could have been confused for a tomato.

“Anyway, the ride went great until about an hour in.  And then the angel of a baby burst into tears and started crying.  And then he looked at me and started crying more.  I was so hurt.”  Jackson made a pouting face and Mark laughed.  He never thought it would be this comforting to talk to someone in English.

“Half-way through I realized that I had no idea what you looked like and so I was drawing pictures on the plane of what you might look like, but I won’t show them to you because they could never compare to your beauty.  And I was on my fifth drawing when I got hungry and started eating the whole peanut supply.  It was kind of salty and now I’m craving something sweet.”

“Do you want to get some ice cream?  I’ll treat you.”  Mark had been craving ice cream and he beamed with happiness when Jackson seemed to share that same craving.

“You’ll treat me?  Thanks Yi-en!  Oh, you’ve got to show me your martial arts tricking sometime.  You want to give me a tour around Korea?  I’ve been wanting to try the food here, but please not anything spicy unless you want to see a person die on you...”

The sound of Jackson’s voice was accompanied by the rolling of the luggage, the pitter-patter of the rain and the fluttering of Mark’s heart as they walked under Mark’s umbrella.  And Mark had never felt more at home as he clutched the letter, walking with Jackson in the rain.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Second fanfic! Planned to post this earlier, but school is just such a pain. I hope this put a bit of happiness in your day.
> 
> Please leave a kudos and a comment. Those make me happy :).
> 
> Make sure to support Got7 and Markson! Remember to vote for MAMAs!


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